Gareth's words of 'distance'

GARETH JENKINS has actually spelt out a stark warning to his players, according to a sports psychologist who studied the way the Wales coach defended his unchanged team selection for Saturday's game against England.

GARETH JENKINS has actually spelt out a stark warning to his players, according to a sports psychologist who studied the way the Wales coach defended his unchanged team selection for Saturday's game against England.

Jenkins has veered away from his constant defence of his squad to some sentences which clearly distance him from the on-field performances amid huge pressure generated by serial underachievement, according to psychologist Jim Golby.

The announcement that the team to play England this weekend would be exactly the same as that which lost to Italy on Saturday was accompanied with a statement in which the Wales coach said, "This selection is very much a message to these players that we believe in them.

"We believe in their talents and we don't think we are very far away from putting the kind of performances together that will start winning us matches. They have a second chance as a group to prove what they can do and we are all backing them to do it."

Dr Golby believes the wording of the statement, which seemed to distance Jenkins' coaching team from the standard of performances on the pitch, was actually a coded message that the players could not continue to rely on the support of their coach if their displays continued to be sub-standard.

Jenkins has stubbornly refused to criticise his squad, despite standing on the brink of a Six Nations whitewash just two years after the Grand Slam success of 2005.

But Dr Golby believes yesterday's warning that many of the current team may be skating on thin ice was driven by the extreme pressure to secure his first win against a major rugby nation and avoid finishing this year's tournament with no points.

"Gareth is normally very good at man management and dealing with the players - he's a passionate defender of Welsh rugby," said Dr Golby, head of research at the University of Teesside's Sport and Exercise department.

"But this is a shift in paradigm, which is a reflection of the extreme pressure he is under.

"The players know they haven't delivered and these are players with enormous talent.

"There are permutations and combinations he hasn't played, and what he is saying to them is that they have to deliver this time or they are out.

"He knows that ultimately the buck stops with him and that if he doesn't get it right he goes."

In his statement, Jenkins defended his decision to pick the same team, arguing making changes for their own sake would not have been productive, and affirming his confidence that the team selected to face Italy was the strongest available to him.

He added, "The message is not that we got everything right last week, but that we believe this group of players is capable of getting it right - and capable of beating England.

"We believe in them and we are sticking with them and giving them the chance to show how good they can be in front of our home fans this weekend."

Dr Golby, who has worked in an advisory role to the Llanelli Scarlets, and is a firm friend of the Stradey coach Phil Davies, said he believed Jenkins had decided the players needed to be challenged over their performances.

"He accepts responsibility," he said. "Ultimately it's the coach who picks the team, and, if he's not picking the right people, then he has to go.

"He's an honest fellow and nobody will be hurting more than him. I think he's trying to be objective and motivating them in the way he sees most fit.

"I think he's trying to use both coaching models, but there's a coded message for the players that he can not continue to support them if they continue not to perform. If people are not satisfied with what is happening, then they've got to go, and he's got to go."